Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, has criticised a claim that Argentina
ranks ahead of Britain in a league table of military power, calling it "a
gross slur" on UK troops.

The UK National Defence Association (UKNDA), which campaigns for “fully funded” Armed Forces, argued this week that Prime Minister David Cameron’s claim that Britain is a major global power with the world’s fourth largest defence budget is “no more than a shallow sound-bite”.

A report by Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon and Vice-Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham, says the UK actually ranks 31st in terms of armed forces manpower and 64th in terms of “serious militarisation” when other factors such as proportion of GDP are taken into account.

Countries ranging from Israel to Singapore emerge as more serious military powers than the UK, while France, Spain and Argentina are all ahead of Britain in the defence league table, UKNDA said.

But Mr Hammond dismissed the claims as “utter nonsense.”

He told The Sun: "Military power isn't just about numbers. It's about their quality, morale, training and equipment.

"To claim our military ranks below Argentina's is absurd and a gross slur on the calibre and capability of our troops.

“Argentina struggles to get its ageing Falklands-era fighter jets off the ground even on a good day, and if any did reach the islands they'd be no match for the RAF's top-of-the-range Typhoons.”

Britain’s soldiers were much better equipped today than they were even 10 years ago, he added, arguing that the country remained a “front-rank military power.”

In their UKNDA commentary entitled The Defence Budget League Tables: False Comfort from Statistics, ACM Graydon and Vice-Admiral Blackham argued that what matters, however, is “not what you spend but what you get for the money.”

They wrote: “Experienced, skilful and battle-hardened we may be, but we are just too few - too few in personnel, ships, aircraft and weapons.”

Britain’s “rudderless slide down the tables” puts our standing in the world at risk, the authors said.